A recent post prompted some thoughts on an interesting discourse – whether people think the moon landing of 1969 happened or not. And, naturally, that made me think of movies set in space. Here’s 5 really great space movies!

Capricorn One (1977)
It’s been a loooong time since I’ve seen this movie. But I really like it. It taps into the conspiracy idea surrounding the Apollo moon landings. It’s quite a clunky film but what an interesting plot!

Apollo 13 (1995)
Ron Howard’s space adventure has some pretty intense action going on it, and it perfectly captures the horrors of what can go wrong, and the dramas that can unfold in a space mission. Plus there’s Tom Hanks.

Alien (1979)
My favourite movie of the franchise. I love this, it’s perfect. The first act is cleverely drawn out. Although you just know something terrible is going to happen (“don’t touch the eggs!”) you’re quire relaxed and then BOOM – chaos and savagery unfolds. Great how the alien in the first movie doesn’t get much screen time – it’s a mysterious, creepy monster that lurks and scuttles in the corner of the frames. They should have kept it that way!

Interstellar (2014)
There’s a lot of cool things about this recent movie, the score being one of my favourite elements. It looks fantastic, too. There’s a huge contrast between space movies of the older decades and space movies of today (I do have a soft spot in my heart for cardboard box and paper-mache-looking space ships of the 60s, 70s and 80s), but Interstellar is one of the greats when it comes to cinematography.

Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell executes a really memorable performance in this eerie sci-fi, thrilleresque number. This is quite a daunting plot that left me whirring.

Good to see ‘Capricorn One’ get a mention. That confirmed my conspiracy theories in 1969! I also have a lot of time for ‘Prometheus’, ‘Sunshine’, ‘Red Planet’, ‘Event Horizon’, ‘Dark Star’, and of course, ‘Outland’ with Sean Connery, which is ‘High Noon’, re-imagined in space.
Lots to choose from!
Best wishes, Pete.

Thankyou for reading! Moon is bloody brilliant. I know a number of people that really didn’t like it though. It’s really eerie.

I have to say, Star Trek and Star Wars are fantastic space franchises, but they don’t have a place in my heart personally, if I’m honest! I would say, if anything, the original Star Wars trilogy, particularly The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi.

Some great films on there. I really liked the inclusion of Capricorn One and Moon, and then, of course, Alien is a given. For me, it’s very difficult to have a preference for either Alien or Aliens. Both are superb.

Thanks for reading! You’re very right there, both Alien films are fantastic. I would maybe say Alien, just because of how much they have no idea how to deal with it or what it is. But then Ripley kicking ass as an alien pro in the second one is really cool too.

Great point. Alien has everybody with no clue what they’re up against, whereas Aliens is just a dance of death against an army of the creatures. I love them both. If only John Hurt, like an idiot, hadn’t put his face directly above the exposed egg. Ha